HEARTBREAK FOR HALL

Matt Hall has continued a loveless race affair with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, after he was eliminated from the seventh race of the 2018 Red Bull Air Race World Championship due to a poorly timed pylon hit.

For the third year running, a wide wing at the second gate cruelled Hall’s progress in Indianapolis, USA. It left the Aussie in sixth place, but still earned him five crucial world championship points. As a result, he now sits third in the standings with just one round remaining in this year’s championship, to be held at the Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas next month.

Meanwhile Hall’s closest championship rivals Mike Goulian of the USA and Martin Šonka had contrasting days. Goulian soared over home soil to claim his second win of 2018, and in the process reclaimed the championship lead. While Czech pilot Šonka had a wretched run to finish tenth and lose top spot overall.

The championship race now sees Goulian lead Šonka by five points, with Hall a further two back, making it a seven-point race to the title in Texas. With the knowledge that he is now the outsider in the battle for top spot, Hall could do little to hide his frustration after today’s race, describing his result as “disappointing.”

“I’m disappointed. To have my mistake on race day…I had clean training sessions and qualy, and then to have two penalties on race day. I need to do something about that,” Hall conceded.

“We had the ability to really capitalise today (with Šonka in tenth) and take the lead of the championship, but we’re still seven points behind and back in third place. It’s a disappointing day.”